Aqueous cleaning solutions are used in a variety of situations. For example, in different applications, aqueous cleaning solutions are used to clean, sanitize, and/or disinfect kitchens, bathrooms, schools, hospitals, factories, and other similar facilities. Aqueous cleaning solutions typically include one or more chemical species dissolved in water. The chemical species impart various functional properties to the water such as cleaning properties, antimicrobial activity, and the like.
Ensuring that an aqueous cleaning solution is appropriately formulated for an intended application can help ensure that the cleaning solution provides suitable cleaning and/or disinfecting properties. For example, the sterilizing ability of some aqueous cleaning solutions varies according to temperature, pH, and the concentration of chemical species dissolved in water, among other factors. Accordingly, measuring the different characteristics of the aqueous cleaning solution before use can be beneficial to understand the properties of the solution and to determine if adjustment is required. While chemical titration or other invasive techniques can be used to determine some properties of an aqueous cleaning solution, these techniques are typically laborious and prone to error. Further, these techniques do not always allow for rapid analysis of an aqueous cleaning solution, which would be helpful for time sensitive applications.